Laser Treatments For Vaginal Rejuvenation Are Getting A Lot More Popular In Malaysia
In just three years, there has been a 191% hike in requests for vaginal rejuvenation in Malaysia.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 27 Feb 2017, 05:21 PM
Did you know that laser vaginal rejuvenation is the cheapest plastic surgery in Malaysia?
A recent report on plastic surgery treatments in Malaysia revealed that it would approximately cost about RM2,600 to get laser vaginal rejuvenation here.
A Dublin-based healthcare search engine, WhatClinic.com, conducted an analysis on plastic surgery treatments in Malaysia, based on 10,290 email enquiries to more than 100 local clinics.
WhatClinic.com was founded in 2006 and has since been helping patients find, compare, and book clinics based on their preferences.
They provide detailed listings for more than 120,000 clinics on their site, including doctors, dentists, beauty and cosmetic surgery, physiotherapy, fertility, and holistics to name a few. Note that over 1.5 million patients use WhatClinic.com every month to find and compare details such as services and prices for treatments at clinics listed on the site.
According to WhatClinic's findings, in just a matter of years, the enquiries for laser vaginal rejuvenation procedures have increased by 192% in 2016.
Laser vaginal rejuvenation procedure is basically a procedure to tighten the vaginal area using laser treatment
"The treatment is relatively pain free and the patient can return to a normal day to day routine very soon after," read WhatClinic's annual global report, as reported by The Malay Mail Online yesterday, 26 February.
Based on figures from the year 2016, WhatClinic said that the average starting price of laser vaginal rejuvenation at about RM2,575, is the cheapest amongst Malaysia's top 10 plastic surgery treatments their users enquired about.
However, liposuction was the #1 most enquired about plastic surgery treatment, with eyelid surgery and fat transfer in second and third place respectively
Breast reduction, which garnered the least amount of enquiries in the year 2016 at 142, also has the highest starting price at RM17,874, compared to the other top 10 plastic surgery procedures that are popular in Malaysia.
"We haven’t seen a huge increase overall, in fact there was a 4% decrease in interest in plastic surgery when we compared the past three months to the same period one year ago - however there has been growth from overseas in some treatments," explained WhatClinic.com.
Contrary to popular belief, stats show that a large number of enquiries for plastic surgery come from young people aged between 25 to 34, at 43%
The next largest group of enquiries are from people within the age group of 35 to 44 at 20% and the third largest group is people between the ages of 18 and 24, making up 18% of the enquiries.
Speaking to Malay Mail Online, Philip Boyle, WhatClinic.com's Head of Consumer Matters, thinks that this is due to the beauty standards set by the media.
"The demographics are consistent with global trends of recent. Digitally connected millennials are bombarded with more and more 'versions' of beauty by brands and their peers. This causes pressure to achieve the best possible look,"said Boyle.
It was also mentioned that while women made the most number of enquiries related to plastic surgery in Malaysia in the year 2016 at 70%, the number of men looking to go under the knife too has seen a "sharp increase" over the past few years.
Where do most global enquires about plastic surgery services in Malaysia come from?
Australians showed the highest interest in plastic surgery services in Malaysia, followed by Singaporeans and Americans.
While Singapore took the second place, the number of enquiries from the country has dropped in 2016. However, the enquiries from US has seen a growth of 32%, with an increase of 51 more enquiries in 2016 compared to just 158 in 2015.
So, what influences these changes in patterns for medical tourism related to plastic surgery services in Malaysia?
According to Boyle, the reason could be pinned to the weakening ringgit, government initiatives in promoting Malaysia as a medical tourism destination and the improvement and quality of plastic surgeons in Malaysia.
"The US is Malaysia’s fastest growing medical tourism market, growing 32% in the past 12 months. This has no doubt been influenced by the weakening ringgit (MYR) against the dollar (USD)," he explained.
Speaking about current beauty trends, fat transfer and vaginal rejuvenation have taken the top spots as the services have lower risk and increased availability and awareness
He also said these changes are closely linked to the ever-changing beauty standards and trends, citing the current fascination with butt implants and fuller, thicker eyebrows.
"We have also seen in the UK, smaller breast implants, as more and more women become interested in fitness. Laser hair removal has become extremely popular. We have also seen growth in demand for eyelid and chin surgeries.
"All of these are linked to changes in what 'beauty' means. Not to mention the medical aesthetic market, which is bringing out things like vampire facials and fat freezing to consumers," added Boyle.
Vampire facial uses a person's platelet rich plasma therapy (PRP), injecting the blood back into the patient's skin to rejuvenate and renew the skin. Fat freezing, or scientifically known as Cryolipolysis, is a treatment used to destroy fat cells by controlled cooling. It is a nonsurgical alternative to liposuction.
Malaysia has been recognised as one of the best places in the world for healthcare consistently over the years
Texas-based Living Magazine did an analysis on healthcare around the world based on study medical procedures, hospital cleanness, and medical preparation and ranked Malaysia as the world’s best health systems out of 24 countries they studied.
Some of the factors that led to Malaysia being named as having the best healthcare in the world are due to the strengthening USD, cheaper air travel rates, expensive healthcare costs and long waiting lists in Western countries.
It was noted that Malaysia has some of the best-trained doctors, with a majority of them trained in the US, Australia, or the UK. The fact that all of them speak English also adds to the rating.